IT’s been a bitterly disappointing Blue Square Bet Premier campaign for Newport County as they sit in 22nd place with just 16 points to their name from 20 games, writes Mike Simmonds.

Much had been expected from the Exiles after they ended last year’s debut Conference season in ninth place, but the departure of manager Dean Holdsworth to Aldershot in January started a downward spiral.

After leading the club to the Conference South title by a massive 28 points the previous season, Holdsworth’s departure saw Spurs coach Anthony Hudson appointed.

Although Hudson oversaw the Welsh side to a top-10 finish, a poor start to the current campaign with just one win in 12 games saw the American leave in September, with former Rushden & Diamonds boss Justin Edinburgh charged with keeping County in the division.

It’s been a mixed start for Edinburgh too as he opened up with a 3-0 home defeat to the in-form Southport, but then oversaw a stunning 4-1 triumph at title chasers Fleetwood Town.

The indifferent performances have continued as the Exiles lost at home to Tamworth and Ebbsfleet, triumphed over Kettering and went out of the FA Cup to Shrewsbury Town.

Last weekend, a 2-0 lead at Grimsby was frittered away by a controversial penalty decision in the closing stages, leaving County three points from safety.

No players came in during the closing of the loan deadline yesterday, with the only recent transfer activity, former Wales international David Pipe extending his contract until the end of the season.

Meanwhile, Cardiff striker Nat Jarvis, who has scored four times since joining the club on loan, is keen to extending his temporary stay at the club

Team news: Hatters willdefinitely be without leading scorer Amari Morgan-Smith for a second week with a hamstring/back injury.

Midfielder Keith Keane is also a doubt as is Tommy Wright, but the likes of Dan Gleeson, Shane Blackett played in the reserves this week. Winger Charlie Henry and defender Will Antwi both left the club on Thursay though, joining Aldershot and Grimsby in loan deals.

In charge: Justin Edinburgh – left back who began life at Southend United before moving to Tottenham Hotspur where he played over 200 games.

Wound down his career at Portsmouth and then became player manager at Billericay Town from 2003-2006.

Took over as Fisher Athletic boss before spending a year in charge of Grays Athletic and was then at the helm of crisis club Rushden for two years.

Led Diamonds into the play-offs in his first season, but they were kncoked out by Oxford United and left when the club were expelled from the Conference last season and was appointed Newport boss in October.

View from the opposition: Wayne Hatswell, player coach: “We just have to look forward to Saturday, they are all big games coming up now and it will be a tough test.

“We can’t afford to lose on Saturday and then the Tuesday game turns into a real six-pointer.

“We’ve got to build on what was a positive result at Grimsby and keep that momentum going ahead of Hayes & Yeading.

“If we can get four points out of these two games then it will be a great couple of days for us.”

Friendly faces: Hatters winger Charlie Henry signed for Town from Newport County last season, after scoring at Kenilworth Road for the Exiles back in November.

He won’t get a chance to line up against his former side though after joining Aldershot on loan in the week.

One to watch: Danny Rose – Tricky winger who recently captained England C in their friendly clash at Gibraltar.

The 23-year-old, who started his career at Manchester United, before moving to Oxford United, has been in supreme form this season, scoring 10 league goals in a side who have struggled badly.

Many expect him to leave once the transfer window opens though as he has been training with Championship side Crystal Palace recently.

Top scorers: Exiles - Danny Rose (10). Hatters - Amari Morgan-Smith (9).

Last time out: Luton were pegged back in the final seconds of the clash at Spytty Park last season, as it had looked like they would take three points with Robbie Willmott’s 18th minute goal.

But Town conceded a penalty with time running out and Jamie Collins finished to earn the hosts a draw.

Hatters: Mark Tyler, Dan Gleeson (Luke Graham 46), Freddie Murray, George Pilkington, Zdenek Kroca, Claude Gnakpa, Keith Keane, Robbie Willmott, Paul Carden, Jason Walker (Jake Howells 58), Lloyd Owusu.

Attendance: 2,834.

For all the latest Luton Town FC news, reports, stats, player profiles, live match updates, prediction table and a complete fixture list, visit our {http://www.lutontoday.co.uk/sport/football/hatters-microsite|Hatters Microsite|Click here for the Hatters Microsite}.

A KITE-FLYING enthusiast died when he crashed to the ground after a freak gust of wind took him up to 60ft into the air, an inquest heard yesterday.

Marcus Garwood, 26, of Hillcroft, Dunstable, was flying his kite at Dunstable Downs with a friend on July 24 this year when the accident happened.

Dunstable Coroner’s Court heard Mr Garwood was an experienced kite-flyer, who had regularly used the nine metre square for jumps, letting it lift him around 6ft into the air for 10 to 15 seconds.

On the day of the accident he was at the downs with his friend Eduardo Garza, who he had met through kite-flying.

Mr Garza told the court: “It was a perfect day for kite-flying. The wind was probably about 10 mph on and off.”

The pair initially started off flying six metre square kites, until the wind started to drop and they decided to switch to the nine metre square Flexifoil Blade II kite.

“It holds you in the air longer and you can do more jumps,” Mr Garza told the court.

Mr Garwood continued to fly his original kite while Mr Garza flew the larger one, and after 10 minutes they prepared to swap.

“I carried out a couple of jumps, and when I put it down I told him it felt heavy and slow,” said Mr Garza.

“Marcus took the handles from me and handed me the six metre. He shot seven feet forward and then the kite went up and took him up 40ft in the air.

“I didn’t notice that the wind had picked up in any way. I put my kite down and ran after him. He went straight up in the air and it was taking him towards the car park. I shouted to him to hold on.

“The kite dropped in height and picked up speed, his body was 20ft in the air, then he went into a position that can only be described as a Superman position.

“He hit the floor very hard then bounced up three feet and let go, then he fell again and stopped.”

Mr Garza described running over to his friend and grabbing his head and trying to talk to him, but said Mr Garwood could only “groan in pain”.

Members of the public ran over to him and began CPR, but Mr Garwood had already turned blue and stopped breathing, and his pupils had “gone very big”, said Mr Garza.

Describing his friend’s experience in kite-flying, he said: “Marcus had been flying kites for three to four years, and I would say he was an experienced flyer.

“We had used that kite anywhere between 50 and 100 times over the last two years. He was comfortable that the wind levels were appropriate for it.”

Mr Garza agreed with the suggestion by coroner Bob Amos that Mr Garwood had been taken into the air by a “freak gust”, and said it could have been a “ridge lift”, which occurs when wind strikes an obstacle such as a cliff and is deflected upwards.

He added: “When you’re up that high that’s the way it is – you either hang on or let go and he hung on.”

Police sergeant Anthony Seamarks told the court that when he arrived at the scene Mr Garwood had obvious broken bones and bruising and that paramedics were working to save him.

Sgt Seamarks cleared the area for the arrival of the air ambulance, but Mr Garwood was pronounced dead at the scene. Among the potential witnesses to the scene, he said, was Mr Garwood’s stepfather, who identified his stepson’s body before being taken back to the family home to break the news to Mr Garwood’s mother.

Recording a verdict of misadventure, Mr Amos said: “Marcus lost his life doing something that he obviously enjoyed and was skilled at.

“The freak interference of the weather put him in a situation that, however skilled he was, he was not able to control.”

HAVE a chat with Councillor Denise Green at a help and advice surgery at the Beecroft Community Centre, Westfield Road, Dunstable, on Saturday, November 26.

From 11am until noon the councillor will be available to talk about any issues of concern and answer any questions you may have.

For further information contact Councillor Green on 0300 300 8520 or email her at denise.green@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk.

Alternatively, you can call the members’ support team on 0300 300 6090.

THE Molten Spartan SML Premier Division Dunstable derby between AFC Dunstable and Dunstable Town will help to mark the official opening of the new £3.2million Creasey Park Community Football Centre.

England goalkeeping coach and former Liverpool, Tottenham and England legend Ray Clemence and the Mayor of Dunstable will be guests of honour and will open the new all-weather football pitch, youth pitches and community changing rooms at 10am.

For he full story see the News/Gazette,

FOLLOWING the fuel price debate in the House of Commons last week, South West Bedfordshire MP Andrew Selous has welcomed the four locations identified in his constituency for electric vehicle charging points.

These will be match-funded by the Government’s Plugged in Places programme.

Central Bedfordshire Council has offered four locations including Ashton Square, Dunstable, near the planting area in the centre of the car park, and Grove Theatre, Dunstable, at the rear of GoBowling.

There are also charging points in Leighton Buzzard at Hockliffe Street car park next to the entrance barrier and West Street multi-storey car park on the ground floor.

Further private sector charging points are also being installed across the UK by companies such as Ecotricity’s Electric Highway Scheme and Charge Master’s Polar Scheme. Mr Selous said: “With fuel prices so high, I very much welcome the introduction of the infrastructure locally that will enable my constituents to take advantage of cheaper, cleaner motoring in the near future.

“Several new electric vehicles such as the Vauxhall Ampera and the Nissan Leaf will go on sale in the UK next year.”

INEVITABLY in romantic fiction, when a heroine finally meets her Mr Right he will be an exotic specimen swathed in glamour and mystery.

But in a newly published book based on a series of real- life dating mishaps, the knight in shining armour runs a humble art studio in Dunstable.

The recent publication of Girl Meets Boys has also left an extra-sweet taste on the tongue of Milton Keynes writer Louise Gibney as it comes after 12 months of tears, sweat and rejection.

Having finished her debut book, which recounts a year of dating fraught with illegal immigrants, cases of mistaken identity and indecent sexual proposals, Louise, 26, started out on the thorny road to publication by pursuing a slew of traditional publishing houses.

Although garnering a positive response, the book, only half the length of a typical novel at 109 pages, was deemed too short.

After six months of rejection, the author, who currently writes a column in MK Pulse magazine, began to delve into the world of self-publication.

She organised a short-story competition for the Royal Wedding in April and began to test the waters of self-publication as she went about publishing the resulting anthology.

After more research and colleague recommendations, Louise settled on Lulu.com, an open publishing company which uses the route of self-publication as the avenue to get her story to print.

“I had to take on the all the editing and marketing myself, which was a huge ordeal,” said Louise.

The author’s hard work soon began to pay off, however, as she began to promote her book on radio shows, galvanised support from a Facebook page and was praised warmly by a dating website in Leicester.

With an official book launch slated for next month and a request to host a Northampton book evening, Louise can finally put her struggle-laden year behind her. “It was hard work but worthwhile to see the book in print. It’s a story worth telling!” she said.

As for Dunstable’s Mr Right, Louise told the Gazette: ‘We’ve now moved in together, but he hasn’t read the book in its completed form yet. He’s been very supportive and under my insistence I hope he will eventually read it all.”

Although the events in the book would make even the most seasoned dater quake in their stilettos, Louise still reserves a fondness for her unlucky-in-love experiences.

“It wasn’t merely a succession of horrific encounters,” recalled Louise.

“I met some genuinely nice people along the way – people who I’ve kept in contact with and contacted about the publication of the book.”

Girl Meet Boys, which was published November 3, is available from Amazon at £5.99.

Having exhausted her dramatic dating foibles in this book, Louise told the Gazette her next story will be a decidedly more inventive affair – a pure fiction novel based on twins.

Defending champions North Midlands will meet East Midlands in the final of this season’s Midlands U18 Championship at the Super Sunday event at Broadstreet RFC on Sunday, December 4, kick-off 2.30pm.

North Midlands held off a spirited second half fightback from Staffordshire to hang on for a 34-32 win in their final group match at Stourbridge having earlier edged out Warwickshire in the first match of their title defence. East Midlands booked their place in the final by beating Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire 17-10 in their final group match at Newark. All six Midlands counties will be in action at Broadstreet, with all players again being assessed by Midlands selectors.

The Midlands selectors will then announce a squad for the first of two assessment days at Loughborough Grammar School on December 11.

The second assessment day will also be held at Loughborough GS on December 18 with the Divisional Festival taking place at Broadstreet from February 17-19.

A UNIVERSITY of Bedfordshire nursing practice educator has won an award for her dissertation.

Linda Dean picked up the Norah Rees Award which recognises and promotes research and development in child healthcare.

The charity Action for Sick Children uses a legacy to present the Norah Rees Award for the best Masters’ dissertation that furthers the aims and values of the charity.

Linda said: “I’m really happy to receive this award - I genuinely didn’t expect to win so getting the letter was such a lovely surprise. The dissertation was hard work but definitely worth it.”

THE first concrete beams were laid on the route of the controversial Luton Dunstable Busway on Monday morning.

The first pre-cast concrete beams, manufactured in Luton, were laid on the route near Church Street, Dunstable.

At 13.4km, the new busway will be the second longest in the world, and the longest in an urban environment

Councillor Roy Davis, responsible for regeneration in Luton, said: “This was an exciting landmark in delivery of the Luton Dunstable Busway which confirms the excellent progress that is being made on the ground.

“The busway will offer all the connectivity of a bus with the speed of a train. Buses will run not only along the main corridor itself but also reach out into the community and serve 265 bus stops away from the main route across Luton and Dunstable.

“The busway offers an unrivalled opportunity to change people’s local travel habits by providing a high-tech public transport service that will reach deep into our communities.”

Luton Borough Council says the busway is predicted to reduce journey times by half between Houghton Regis, Dunstable, Luton town centre and Luton Airport.

Councillor Brian Spurr, in charge of sustainable communities services at Central Bedfordshire Council, said: “We are building the busway in order to reduce congestion and dramatically reduce journey times across Luton and Dunstable, and we’re delighted that the scheme is making good progress.

“Our contractors have been busy for many months previously, preparing the route and clearing major structures.

“It’s wonderful now to be able to see the busway itself taking shape before our eyes.”

It is anticipated that more than 4,700 of the six-metre long concrete beams will be used on the busway.

Pre-cast for 12 hours in purpose-built moulds, the precision-engineered beams are cured for 28 days and accurate to within 2mm.

HATTERS: Town manager Gary Brabin is looking forward to testing himself against League Two opposition once more as Luton were drawn at home to Cheltenham Town in the FA Cup second round last week.

Having already knocked out Northampton Town, Brabin said: “It’s a good draw for us. It’s good to test ourselves against a team in a higher division, so I’m pleased with the draw and it’s another home tie as well.”

Robins defender Alan Bennett admitted the draw could have been kinder to his side, as he said: “It’s a fairly even draw because they are a big club for the Conference.

“Luton is not the nicest of places to go but we’ll give it a good shot. We could have had worse in the draw, but we could have had better.

“Luton are not having the best of times in the Conference, but we can’t worry about it yet.”

KEECH Hospice Care will be one of the charities to benefit from the X Factor Christmas single, it has been announced.

The 16 finalists from the TV talent show are set to release a cover version of Rose Royce’s Wishing On A Star on Sunday (November 27).

Profits from the single will go to the charity Together For Short Lives as well as 49 children’s hospices and organisations across the country, including Keech.

Chief executive Mike Keel said: “We rely on our community to fund the hospice and so the single will make such a difference.

“As well as raising awareness, this will allow us to do even more for the children and families we support.”

How much do you care about your family?

What if you were wracked with apocalyptic nightmares that threatened their safety and might just herald the end of the world?

Welcome to Take Shelter, a freaky drama from writer-director Jeff Nichols that blends a descent into madness with the everyday struggles of Curtis (Michael ‘soon to be fighting Superman as General Zod’ Shannon).

Shannon, pictured right, is married to the lovely Samantha (Jessica ‘Tree of Life’ Chastain), they have a deaf six-year-old daughter Hannah (Tova Stewart) and live seems very normal.

In a topical plot line, the family are having a hard time making ends meet and Curtis feels burdened in his dead end Ohio building job.

Things get worse when Curtis starts having vivid nightmares in which he’s in danger – always heralded by an unnatural storm and backed up with some cool special effects. What’s a man to do?

Well, our hero takes to constructing a tornado shelter in his back yard, much to the consternation of his wife and the bemusements of his work colleagues.

The film builds up a creeping sense of dread and disorientation, summoning up strong echoes of like Donnie Darko in that it’s a strong psychological thriller where the threat is always ambiguou.

Is he going nuts, or is he actually picking up supernatural warning signals?

Take Shelter plays with your emotions and will keep you guessing right up to the unsettling ending.

It all looks amazing, too – stunning shots of the American flatlands mix with the weird and disturbing nightmares to form a unique fusion of fantasy and reality. There are some shots in this movie that will could burn themselves into your subconscious and leave you mulling the meaning over for some time to come.

Shannon is great in the difficult lead role and he is ably backed up by the excellent performance of Chastain who is fast becoming the ‘go to girl’ for playing hot young mothers.

Young Stewart is also good in her supporting role and together they form one of the most convincing on screen families for some time.

Director Nicholls tackles a fascinating ‘what if?’ subject matter and gives you a vital viewing experience that is likely to demand repeat watching to fathom the complexities of the plot. Mental breakdowns have never been so interestingly depicted.

AN EXTRA 230 seats have been created for standard class ticket holders on rail services between Bedford and Brighton.

The change has been introduced by First Capital Connect (FCC) by halving the number of first class compartments on its new class 377 trains.

Keith Jipps, FCC’s customer service director, said: “The initial reaction from passengers holding standard class tickets has been very positive.

“They asked for more standard class seats on our new trains, we listened and now the work to provide an extra 20 standard class seats on each eight-carriage train is almost finished.

“Research shows we still have enough seats for customers with first class tickets and we’re also going to make it easier for first class ticket holders to locate the correct part of the train by improving what’s displayed on our platform information screens.”

From December 12, First Capital Connect is also adding almost 2,000 further seats to its peak hour services by lengthening eight services every day to 12 carriages.

POLICE say reports of drug crime are taken seriously, despite asking the public not to dial 999 if they suspect drug use or dealing.

Beds Police say people should now dial 101 to report some crimes, which also include stolen vehicles or damaged property.

The force is currently receiving 10 per cent of non-emergency calls on the new number, which was launched in September.

A spokesman said: “All calls to Beds Police are taken seriously. These calls aren’t treated any differently but people are urged to use the 101 number so that 999 can be used where there is an immediate need.”

Chief Insp Jim Lunn said the force received around 1,300 calls a day, only a small percentage of which were to emergencies.

He said: “A real emergency is when a crime is happening, when someone suspected of a crime is nearby or where someone is injured, being threatened or in danger.”

With Christmas just around the corner and the festive school holidays a week to two away, as a family treat it might be worth turning back the clock to a time when life was much less hectic and enjoy a live show.

With London under an hour away by train, instead of visiting the West End, there is a rather special show playing at a 1,000 seat theatre in the disused Eurostar terminal at London’s Waterloo Station.

The venue is clearly a stroke of genius and is the perfect backdrop in recreating the classic story of Roberta, Peter and Phyllis, The Railway Children.

In fact Damien Cruden¹s production of Edith Nesbit’s epic tale has taken London’s theatreland to a whole new level and was the winner of the Best Entertainment category at the 2011 Olivier Awards.

Edith Nesbit was the JK Rowling of her day. She wrote a string of children’s books incuding ‘Five Children and It’ and ‘The Phoenix and the Carpet’ a full century before Harry Potter was even thought of and quite remarkably, The Railway Children has never been out of print in over 100 years!

In association with Welcome to Yorkshire, a special stage has been constructed against a single railway track and with the audience seated on either side, the set breaks with the usual confines of a stage production.

The award-winning show which is set in rural Edwardian Yorkshire has been running in London since June 19 and has wow audiences ever since, although it is set to close on January 8.

And its undoubted star is a magnificent 66-tonne Great Northern Railways (GNR) ‘Stirling Single’ steam locomotive. The bright green liveried 100-year-old engine is driven by a giant pair of 8ft high wheels and it chugs between the tiers of seats and brings the action to life.

The story remains true to Edith Nesbit’s original children’s book which was first published in 1906 although today, is perhaps best known for Lionel Jeffries’ wonderful 1970 film version of The Railway Children.

It featured Jenny Agutter, Sally Thomsett and Gary Warren as the children with Dinah Sheridan as their mother and veteran actor Bernard Cribbins playing station porter, Mr Albert Perks. Also in 2000, Simon Nye’s adaptation for ITV scored another coup by casting Jenny Agutter as the children’s mother!

Fortunately Mike Kenny¹s clever stage adaptation also remains true to the original although, rather than using child actors in the roles of Bobby, Peter and Phyllis, they are now played by adults.

With most of the action taking place on a moving stage there are three seperate blocks cleverly manoeuvred and manhandled between the two station platforms it means the staging is whizzing up and down with the actors having to navigate them. Yet it’s all made to look very easy and it creates an incredibly fluid and exciting promenade performance.

The show tells the story of three children who are relocated to the Yorkshire countryside after their father is imprisoned for treason. It’s also an interesting idea bringing adult problems to a child¹s perspective.

While the adults realise the seriousness of the father’s predicament, the youngsters don’t fully understand why he has to go away ‘on business!’ after two men (policemen) come to call at their London house and he leaves with them.

The upshot is, the family who appear to be left penniless and say goodbye to their two servants and butler have to relocate to the Yorkshire countryside where their favourite pasttime is waving at the trains as they pass by.

The children, Roberta (Bobbie) played by Amy Noble, Peter (Tim Lewis) and Phyllis (Grace Rowe), take on their roles with gusto and navigate between the adult characters, mother (Pandora Clifford), Mr and Mrs Perks (Mark Holgate and Elizabeth Keates), the family doctor (Stephen Beckett) and another key character known as ‘The Old Gentleman’ (David Baron) as they rediscover scenes from their past.

From next week, the role of Mr Perks will be played by television’s Waterloo Road mathematics teacher Mark ‘Mr Chalkley’ Benton. It’s a high energy role as he runs and rides up and down the platform on his grocers-style bike. In fact he seems to be everywhere.

The children courageously stop an express train after debris from a landslip fall across the track and then help save a boy who breaks his leg in a tunnel while on a school paper-chase; so naturally the youngsters are rewarded. The railway’s district superintendent presents them with new fob watches while the audience are encouraged to participate in the appreciation by clapping and cheering loudly.

There are various twists and turns in the plot the mysterious appearance of a defected Russian author and a pardon for the children’s father from what was to be a five year jail term; but obviously the star of the show is the mighty steam locomotive and the show’s reaches its climax as Roberta utters the famous words: ³Oh, my daddy, my daddy!²

It all results in a huge cathartic response from the audience who stand to cheer and waved the cast off down the line after an evening full of entertainment and a certain innocence which all too often missing from the lives we live today.

The Railway Children which was first seen at the National Railway Museum in York in 2008 closes on January 8, 2012 so you will need to get in quick.

Performances (which last two hours 20 minutes including an intermission) start at 7.30pm from Tuesday to Saturday while there are matinees at 2.30pm on Thursdays and Saturdays and again on Sundays at both 1pm and 5pm.

Ticket prices vary between £22.75 and £49.75 and you can book by calling the box office on 0844 412 2960 or see the website at wwwRailwayChildrenWaterloo.com

However there are special school rates available on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with the teacher going free with every ten children booked. Call 0844 412 4649 or see education@seetickets.com

LUTON Town have been drawn against Evo-Stik Southern League Premier Division side Swindon Supermarine in the FA Trophy first round proper.

The Marine, who are jointly managed by Gary Horgan and Matt Robinson, reached this stage with a 1-0 victory at Tiverton Town on Saturday.

Swindon have struggled in their league campaign to date though, as they sit fourth from bottom, with just one away league win all season.

The match is scheduled to take place at Kenilworth Road on Saturday, December 10.

For all the latest Luton Town FC news, reports, stats, player profiles, live match updates, prediction table and a complete fixture list, visit our {http://www.lutontoday.co.uk/sport/football/hatters-microsite|Hatters Microsite|Click here for the Hatters Microsite}.

STRIKER Stuart Fleetwood should be fit to face AFC Telford tomorrow night, despite being forced off by a heavy knock in Saturday’s last-gasp 1-0 win at Newport County AFC, writes Mark Wood.

But Luton will still be without top scorer Amari Morgan-Smith, who is likely to be ruled out with a hamstring injury for several more weeks.

Speaking at today’s press conference, assistant manager Alan Neilson said: “Fleets got quite a heavy kick by their centre-half.

“I think Fleets should be training this morning so everything looks rosy with the forwards except Amari of course.

“Tommy’s (Wright) back in training now, he trained last Friday. Tommy’s back training with the squad.

“Amari’s still a few weeks away. Fingers cross, he’s seeing the specialist today, and hopefully we’ll get the go-ahead to push on with Amrai.

“He pulled his hamstring, and a hamstring normally takes anything between four and six weeks. It’s the one he re-injured again, so fingers crossed he will be back sooner rather than later.

“I think he could be back before Christmas. We are looking now at three weeks, he might have knockback or a setback or he might recover quicker because he is still a young lad.”

Midfield dynamo Keith Keane is also back in the mix as Town’s injury situation continues to ease.

Neilson continued: “Keith was out training at the end of last week so Keano is probably fit now.

“Shane (Blackett) played last week for the reserves but got a chest infection so Shane didn’t travel because he was ill but Shane should be back training this morning.”

And Neilson is hopeful the Hatters will be able to build on Saturday’s 93rd-minute winner at Newport as Luton look to get back into the promotion mix.

He continued: “After the game Saturday the lads were buzzing. We knew it was a tough game and a heavier pitch. We have to look in training and make sure the lads aren’t tired in training, but the pleasing thing now is we are getting a lot of the squad members fit again now and we can look at the whole squad and say if he’s a bit tired we can change him and change him. The lads put a magnificent 90 minutes, or I should say 93 minutes in on Saturday.

“It proved the fitness was good and we kept on going on a heavier pitch in windy conditions and I think fans sometimes don’t realise you look at the pitch and it was very heavy. There hadn’t been a lot of rain but I spoke to their goalkeeper before the game and he said the pitch is always heavy, so a really pleasing performance.

“We always think we are going to score a goal with the players we’ve got in the team. It’s pleasing to put one over on them.

“Last season it was them who scored a late goal against us and this year we’ve turned it around.

“Once we finish a game we always look at how the team who are our next opponents played. They won 1-0 at Barrow which is a good result as Barrow are playing very well at the moment. You look at the stats, it looked like they were under a lot of pressure but they’ve held out, kept a clean sheet and scored the winner with 10 men.

“They’ve come up last season, the team are on a high and they try and play football the right way.

“He (AFC manager Andy Sinton) did play the passing game, he was a winger, very skilful and I’ve actually played against him before.

“Once I’ve put him in the stands at Spurs so he will probably try to kick me!

“They try and play the right way. A lot teams in our league do try to play the right way and it will be a tough game.”

Town put in a solid performance to triumph at the New Bucks Head Stadium earlier in the season and Neilson is looking for more of the same this time out.

He said: “We went out there and did a professional job at their place like we did on Saturday and came away with a 2-1 win.

“Fingers crossed we will approach it as we do all the games, look at them and see how they play. It won’t be an easy game as all games at home aren’t.

“All the games in our league are tough games, especially when teams come to Kenilworth Road because they lift games. Even away from home. Every team we play always lifts their game and it’s difficult.

“I don’t know how they will play against us but teams do come to Kenilworth Road and sit back and put their team against us.

“Hopefully we break through early on and go on from there.”

But Luton may have to be patient in order to break down the visitors, as Neilson said: “Teams sometimes come and sit back and try and soak up some pressure and we need to make sure create enough chances, take those chances and push on from there.

“You see in games this season where we play against teams who are in the bottom half of the table they come and hold ship for 30-35 minutes, 40 minutes and in the second half we go and score four or five goals.

“Fingers crossed we can do that in the first half, but it will be very tough.

“We look at all opponents, we look at the pluses and the negatives and go from there.”

The Bucks will be missing striker Chris Sharp who was sent off in Saturday’s game and Neilson thinks he could be a big miss for the visitors.

He said: “He played against us earlier in the season for TNS. We looked at him and thought he played very well in that game in pre-season. He has gone there and done very well for them.

“He will be a miss, they haven’t got a massive squad so he will be a miss and hopefully we can take advantage of that.”

Luton, meanwhile, have plenty of options despite having a number of players out on loan.

Neilson siad: “We’ve got a squad of players now. You look at the reserve team and we played Stevenage away last week and won 4-1 and it was a really strong side.

“It’s pleasing we’ve got these players and they are competing for places.

“Everybody wants to play games but we can only pick 11 players on a teamsheet and five subs. It’s good to keep them playing competitive games, of course we’re playing in the reserve league but it’s not a massive reserve league.

“So they’ve gone out on loan to play games and keep fit if when they’re needed.”

And he was particularly delighted with the options up front and how Ryan Brunt and Danny Crow came off the bench to combine to score the winner at the weekend.

Neilson said: “We sit down and go through things. We thought the lads at Cambridge, especially in the first half last week, were absolutely superb and Azza and Fleets were the same.

“It’s pleasing to have two strikers like Brunt and Crow on the bench and they’ve both come in and done well for the goal.

“We spoke in training last week about doing certain things and Dancey’s (James Dance) got past and Brunty’s got in the right position and got a little flick and it’s dropped to Crowy and Crowy’s put it in the back of the net.”

Victory would also set the Hatters up nicely for Saturday FA Cup second round home tie against high-flying League Two team Cheltenham Town.

He added: “We take one game at a time. The league’s the important thing, but it’s a good game for the lads and once we can get through tomorrow night we can look forward to FA Cup game against Cheltenham who are playing very well indeed.”

A MARATHON effort raised more than £400 for Dunstable toddler Lilly MacGlashan, who is undergoing potentially life-saving cancer treatment in New York.

Kevin Cutler, 32, decided to run the Luton Marathon last weekend to raise funds to help with Lilly’s treatment after reading about her plight. The 23-month-old suffers with aggressive childhood cancer neuroblastoma, and her parents John and Dawn mounted a huge fundraising campaign for her treatment, which is likely to cost £300,000.

Kevin, of Pinewood Close, Luton, said: “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but so worth it.

“I’m not sure I’ll be doing another marathon again, but it felt great to finish it. My legs felt pretty stiff the next morning - going up and down stairs was hard work.

“I read about Lilly’s story and was really touched. I wanted to do something to help her and had always wanted to run a marathon, so decided to run it in aid of Lilly’s appeal.”

Kevin said one of his biggest challenges was fitting in the marathon training around his busy work schedule – on week days, he works in the GIS Windows factory in Luton and three evenings a week he works as a car park attendant the Skimpot Tesco store.

Lilly’s treatment is likely to continue until next spring, and even after her current course is finished, she may need future treatment and will need to return to America several times a year for testing.

Donations can still be sent via Kevin’s fundraising page, www.justgiving.com/kevincutler-lutonmarathonrunforlilly

Kevin Pilkington: 7 – Made a couple of decent stops and bosses his area well. Wisely chose to punch than catch crosses given the conditions.

Curtis Osano: 6 – Got his team into trouble on a couple of occasions but got stronger as the game went on and gave the Hatters some thrust from full-back.

George Pilkington: 7 – Kept his concentration well on a wretched afternoon and was there when necessary.

Janos Kovacs: 8 – Colossus at the back, made one brilliant tackle, won plenty in the air and made several telling interventions.

Greg Taylor: 6 – Solid show against another lively winger and even got forward a few times.

James Dance: 7 – Not as prevalent as he would have liked, but it was his forceful run that created the winner.

Alex Lawless: 5.5 – Missed a great chance, picked up his sixth booking of the season and is lacking that zest we all know he possess.

Jamie Hand: 5.5 – Did his best to get stuck in, but Newport edged the midfield battle.

Jake Howells: 6 – Has had a limited impact on the left of midfield and needs to find another gear.

Aaron O’Connor: 6 – Pacy forward was a willing runner but had little in the way of service.

Stuart Fleetwood: 7 – Thwarted by a great save from the keeper but showed some nice touches.

Ryan Brunt (sub): 5.5 – Had a hand in the goal and looked to run beyond the last man, but not the biggest of impacts.

Robbie Willmott (sub): 5.5 – Got a few dangerous balls into the box, but should be terrorising defences.

Danny Crow (sub): 6 – Popped up with the all-important winner.

Ratings by Mark Wood

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A TORCHLIGHT procession of massed choirs will pass through Priory Gardens as it heads for the annual outdoor town carol concert in Dunstable.

Choristers will walk from the Priory Church to The Square for the carol service, which starts at 7.30pm on Friday, December 2.

Stars from Grove Theatre panto Jack And The Beanstalk will join Dunstable mayor Councillor Claire Meakins-Jell to help switch on the lights on the town Christmas tree.

There will be music from the town’s Salvation Army Band.

Priory House will provide refreshments.